Inferior physical performance tests in 10,998 men in the MrOS study is associated with recurrent falls

Abstract

recurrent fallers are at especially high risk for injuries. to study whether tests of physical performance are associated with recurrent falls. a total of 10,998 men aged 65 years or above. questionnaires evaluated falls sustained 12 months preceding testing of grip strength, timed stand, 6-m walk and 20-cm narrow walk test. Means with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) are reported. P<0.01 is a statistically significant difference. in comparison to both occasional fallers and non-fallers, recurrent fallers performed more poorly on all the physical ability tests (all P<0.001). A score below -2 standard deviations (SDs) in the right-hand grip strength test was associated with an odds ratio of 2.4 (95% CI 1.7, 3.4) for having had recurrent falls compared with having had no fall and of 2.0 (95% CI 1.3, 3.4) for having had recurrent falls compared with having had an occasional fall. low performance in physical ability tests are in elderly men associated with recurrent falls.